This area and much of present-day southern New Jersey was inhabited by Lenape at the time of European encounter. They spoke Unami, one of the three major dialects of Lenape, which was part of the Algonquian language family. The Lenape ranged from the New York metropolitan area and western Long Island, into New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania along the Delaware River, and Delaware.

By the mid-eighteenth century, English colonists had pushed the local Lenape of southern New Jersey onto what was formerly called the Brotherton Indian Reservation, in the area of present-day Indian Mills, which was named for mills built and operated by the Brotherton people, who were converted Christian Indians. Some were moved in 1765 from Cranbury, New Jersey.[25] With continuing pressure after the American Revolutionary War, the Brotherton Indians of New Jersey migrated to New York, accepting an offer by the Stockbridge Indians, also Christian converts, to settle on their reservation in the central part of the state, where they had been allocated land by the Oneida people, one of the Iroquois nations.[26] Also migrating there were some of the Munsee-speaking Lenape from the northern part of their territory. These were all remnant peoples trying to reorganize after years of disease and conflict with colonists and major powers. The Brotherton Indians sold their last property in New Jersey in 1818 and had essentially been absorbed by the Munsee.[27]

Settlers from New England poured into New York after the Revolutionary War, encroaching on Indian territory. Finally, the Stockbridge and Munsee relocated to Wisconsin in the 1820s and 1830s, pushed out with the Oneida by the United States Indian Removal policy to relocate Native Americans to west of the Mississippi River. Today the Stockbridge-Munsee Community is a federally recognized tribe, with a 22,000-acre (8,900 ha) reservation in Shawano County, Wisconsin.

A 1992 non-binding referendum gave voters the opportunity to consider renaming the township to Indian Mills, the name of an unincorporated community in the township.[28]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 44.994 square miles (116.534 km2), including 44.392 square miles (114.974 km2) of land and 0.602 square miles (1.560 km2) of water (1.34%).[1][2]

The township is one of 56 South Jersey municipalities that are included within the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, a protected natural area of unique ecology covering 1,100,000 acres (450,000 ha), that has been classified as a United States Biosphere Reserve and established by Congress in 1978 as the nation's first National Reserve.[31] All of the township is included in the state-designated Pinelands Area, which includes portions of Burlington County, along with areas in Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Ocean counties.[32]

There were 2,168 households out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.7% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.8% were non-families. 12.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.28.[9]

In the township, the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 21.7% from 25 to 44, 34.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.9 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 98.3 males.[9]

The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $104,063 (with a margin of error of +/- $7,752) and the median family income was $110,848 (+/- $10,655). Males had a median income of $80,188 (+/- $22,205) versus $53,591 (+/- $14,752) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $38,817 (+/- $3,645). About 2.4% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.6% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.[44]

There were 2,132 households out of which 44.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.2% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.6% were non-families. 11.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.29.[42][43]

In the township the population was spread out with 29.4% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.[42][43]

The median income for a household in the township was $77,457, and the median income for a family was $82,534. Males had a median income of $55,664 versus $35,440 for females. The per capita income for the township was $30,934. About 2.3% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.[42][43]

Shamong Township is governed under the Township form of government. The five-member Township Committee is elected directly by the voters at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle.[7][45] At an annual reorganization meeting held each January, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Deputy Mayor.

Township Committee member Chris Norman left office in January 2012, citing potential conflicts of interest in his employment with a law firm that does business with the township[51] and was replaced by Tim Gimbel on an interim basis before Gimbel won election in November 2012 to serve the balance of Norman's term ending December 2013.[52][53]

Shamong Township is located in the 3rd Congressional District[54] and is part of New Jersey's 8th state legislative district.[10][55][56] Prior to the 2010 Census, Shamong Township had been split between the 2nd Congressional District and the 3rd Congressional District, a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections.[57]

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 4,549 registered voters in Shamong Township, of which 830 (18.2% vs. 33.3% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,584 (34.8% vs. 23.9%) were registered as Republicans and 2,132 (46.9% vs. 42.8%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 3 voters registered to other parties.[80] Among the township's 2010 Census population, 70.1% (vs. 61.7% in Burlington County) were registered to vote, including 95.8% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 80.3% countywide).[80][81]

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 2,084 votes here (59.9% vs. 40.2% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 1,348 votes (38.7% vs. 58.1%) and other candidates with 40 votes (1.1% vs. 1.0%), among the 3,480 ballots cast by the township's 4,710 registered voters, for a turnout of 73.9% (vs. 74.5% in Burlington County).[82][83] In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 2,073 votes here (56.8% vs. 39.9% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 1,510 votes (41.4% vs. 58.4%) and other candidates with 44 votes (1.2% vs. 1.0%), among the 3,648 ballots cast by the township's 4,564 registered voters, for a turnout of 79.9% (vs. 80.0% in Burlington County).[84] In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 2,188 votes here (62.4% vs. 46.0% countywide), ahead of Democrat John Kerry with 1,286 votes (36.7% vs. 52.9%) and other candidates with 22 votes (0.6% vs. 0.8%), among the 3,507 ballots cast by the township's 4,452 registered voters, for a turnout of 78.8% (vs. 78.8% in the whole county).[85]

As of May 2010[update], the township had a total of 76.92 miles (123.79 km) of roadways, of which 53.03 miles (85.34 km) were maintained by the municipality, 17.42 miles (28.03 km) by Burlington County and 6.47 miles (10.41 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.[101]

^Harbach, Louise. "On The Ballot, Shamong Will Find That Its Very Name Is On The Line", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 21, 1992. Accessed October 2, 2015. "Shamong is a Leni-Lenape name meaning 'place of the horn,' for the abundance of deer there. Now, 140 years later, some present-day settlers say Shamong just doesn't have the snap to it that Indian Mills does, and they say that's what folks call Shamong anyway.... A nonbinding ballot question Nov. 3 might settle the argument, which residents of the Burlington County community say has been going on since 1852."

^Tait, Adam III. "Shamong swears new committeeman", ""Journal Register News, February 21, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2013. "Tim Gimbel was sworn in as the township's newest committeeman at the group's last meeting. Gimbel was chosen from among three candidates for the all-Republican board, with the oath of office administered by Solicitor Douglas Heinold."

^Koller, Brock. "New Jersey's Daria Berenato taking risks, making history on path to WWE", WPVI-TV, June 28, 2015. Accessed February 23, 2017. "21-year-old Daria Berenato from Shamong Township, New Jersey was recently standing inside a wrestling ring in Full Sail University, in her bathing suit, on worldwide television, in front of a panel of judges made up of WWE hall of famers and legends including current Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative, Paul Levesque, better known as superstar Triple H."

^Zangaro, Dave. "Comer picked 57th in MLB entry draft", Burlington County Times, June 7, 2011. Accessed November 28, 2017. "Kevin Comer watched the TV in his Shamong home with great anticipation. By the 50th pick of the Major League Baseball entry draft Monday night, the Seneca High School senior hadn’t heard his name called."

^Staff. The New Jersey Law Journal, Volume 44, p. 95. Honeyman & Rowe, 1921. Accessed December 1, 2013. "Ex Congressman John J Gardner While not a lawyer it was not his fault that he was not a member of the New Jersey Bar This is to be said of Ex Congressman John J. Gardner of, formerly, Atlantic City, who died on his farm at Indian Mills, Burlington county on Feb. 7th last, of heart disease."

^Staff. "SJ Faces: Joe Vento", Courier-Post, January 2, 2005. Accessed August 30, 2012. " But he and Eileen, his wife of 43 years, have called a Shamong horse farm home since the mid-1970s (their son, Geno, 33, lives in Cherry Hill)."